Satyam board to discuss funding on 12 Feb

Mumbai: Satyam Computer’s government-appointed board will meet here on Thursday with further funding options and legal issues likely to top its agenda, a high-level source said.

“The board will meet in Mumbai on 12 February to discuss the company’s long-term plans. These include further options to raise funds to meet short- to medium-term requirements,” the source, closely connected with the development said.

A Satyam spokesperson confirmed the date of the meeting.

The short-term requirements of Satyam include funds for paying salaries to employees in India and abroad, rentals, arrears to vendors and provident fund dues.

Satyam has to pay the first tranche of salaries for its US employees by 19 February, the source said.

It is now understood to have plans to seek more loans from other state-owned banks as well. The company has already initiated discussions with two other banks, the source said, without, however, divulging their identities.

Satyam has receivables worth Rs1,800 crore, which the company is willing to pledge in case there are more funding requirements, the source said.

The company would be more comfortable if it could tie up funding for at least Rs600 crore more, the source said.

“The board would review how much of its receivables have been recovered so far and would accordingly decide its funding options. It is in talks with more banks to secure funding,” the source said.

The Board is also expected to discuss legal challenges faced by the company, here and abroad.

Satyam’s investors in the US have filed over a dozen law suits against the firm after the scandal surfaced.

The Hyderabad-based IT company, the fourth-largest in India, plunged into a grave crisis after its founder B Ramalinga Raju admitted that he manipulated the company’s accounts to the tune of around Rs7,800 crore.

Following this, the Government disbanded the old board of Satyam and replaced it with one that has experts such as HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh, former Nasscom president Kiran Karnik and former Sebi member C Achuthan.